Dark Souls + Demon's Souls + Bloodborne Megathread XIII. The Ringed City - Games

Gaping Dragon is one of the best boss designs in the series. It's a shame that the fight itself is pretty middle of the pack. I'll always remember it fondly as the first real hurdle of the game.

Sinh is my favorite of the DLC dragons and my favorite boss from DS2. Artorias is still my favorite boss in the series. (BB included)

Smelter demon is one of those bosses where it is really hard to beat on your first playthrough but a joke in later playthrough

I remember being so disappointed by the Gaping Dragon because its design is so imposing and its intro is so cool, but then I beat it first try because it suffers from the "If you stick close to its dick, it cant hurt you" weakness so many large bosses have.

I'm sure I would have an easier time now, but I still feel like Bell Gargoyles, Ornstein & Smough and Four Kings were the hardest bosses for me, as they all managed to make me quit the game for at least a couple of weeks before I got back to it, and in the cases of both the latter two, I made entirely new characters when I did come back. There's also a lot of bosses from DS2 (Ancient Dragon and Darklurker), especially from the DLC that I haven't even fought, but otherwise off the top of my head I'd rank the bosses like this: [B]Hardest:[/B] 1) Ornstein & Smough (DS1) 2) Orphan of Kos (Bloodborne) 3) Laurence (Bloodborne) 4) Ebrietas (Bloodborne) 5) Nameless King (DS3) 6) Royal Rat Authority (DS2) Special mentions: Bell Gargoyles, Four Kings, Martyr Logarius, Champion Gundyr, Pontiff Sulyvahn, Midir, Sister Friede [B]Favorites:[/B] 1) Lady Maria 2) Nameless King 3) Father Gascoigne 4) Lothric, Younger Prince 5) Sister Friede Special mentions: Mergo's Wet Nurse, Vendrick, Artorias, Champion Gundyr, [sp]Slave Knight Gael[/sp].

I can't really put up a list but i'd say i greatly enjoyed Velstadt in terms of presentation along with the music. It has that Demon's Souls silent reference\touch and he has a pretty face. Not forgetting his bell hammer too, one of my biggest favorite greathammer in Souls.

[QUOTE=Sherow_Xx;52223061]I don't think you really need a note, you just needed to take that "died fast to fire" logic further. When you see hundreds of leeches that are causing you to quickly die, after getting attacked by an enemy that you already know is weak to fire, you're supposed to panic and try to figure out how to remove them. First you try rolling, then you try casting some fire spells, then you pull out your torch, and hey, presto. Or you don't, and that's fine too, it's just going to be a little more difficult. I actually don't think I knew about this before after I went through that area, but that just meant I had to be more careful and swat them out of the air when they come flying. I honestly don't understand your complaints, you might as well be complaining about any other part of any other Dark Souls game. Enemies that "gank" you? Enemies that do a lot of damage? Huge, resilient enemies? 'Vile imagery' and deadly status effects? None of this is new or different at all.[/QUOTE] Again... just because I NOTED those things doesn't mean I had a problem with it. I was essentially describing the run. Why are you all assuming these to be complaints? I even opened with, "I can't quite put my finger on WHY I find this so much less satisfying than the base game." Words are important. I noted oddities like the sickly crow things being hopscotch obstacles and made a David Cronenberg joke about the fly things (and my note on the unique unpleasantness of the fly nest wasn't a mark against it at all, as it actually stood out more than most of the DLC), but I didn't say "it is bad because it's too hard." That would be retarded. I took issue with the Prince Mononoke Boss being largely unchallenging for DLC, because just grouping weak bosses together feels like lazy design to me, and Friede I felt almost went down too easy, but I kept getting destroyed by an attack that seemed, essentially, to be something you couldn't evade or counter. Giving the boss a free shot would largely contradict the nature of Dark Souls being about "everything can be avoided, so if you get hit it's your own fault." It really was frustration with the cloaking move of hers that sparked off my initial tirade. I honestly hated the opening area with the evil trees and wolves more than anywhere else in AofA (except maybe the snowy mountain crevices, because annoyance). The rest of it felt fine mostly... just "off," in a way that really didn't sit with me. Just these intangibles that made it feel jarringly different, and trying to describe the journey at large felt like the best way to analyze it. Jesus, sometimes I feel people deliberately misunderstand what I say. Anyway... fired off Ringed City, and... goddamn... Ooh wow, it's tough. My general "kill everything" approach almost doesn't fly here. Trip to the first bonfire is a doozy. I still don't get how the ash crawlers spawn, and that puts me on edge whenever I see them around. I like the angel things. Area denial enemies that are invincible until you find the "real" form of the things and kill them? Reminds me of the psy-floater guys from System Shock 2. I like it, it makes each area they're in a puzzle, and it's really rewarding to kill them and start looting. And damn, the loot is SO much better already! Chunks for days, weapons, armor, new pyromancies, the freaking hilarious door shield. And my god, the level design... it's night and day. I was impressed enough by the distant piles of ruins in the Kiln, but actually GOING there? An entire DLC about delving through twisted remains of kingdoms past? Including freaking Earthen Peak from Dark Souls 2??? I'd WONDERED if they were ever going to reference anything from Drangleic again. Anyway, made my way to the first boss... scratch that, bosses. Okay, the designs aren't terribly different from anything we're used to, but the twin demons come REALLY close to recreating the Ornstein and Smough magic here. The arena is HUGE, and the way they pair off, weakening and strengthening to switch between casters/support and aggressive melee brawlers... it's really different, while still feeling so very Dark Souls. Had to switch up to dark pyromancy since fire does dick. Pop on the dark clutch ring for added effect and it went pretty well. I... got suspicious when I finally took down the first one, brought the second to half health, and nothing happened to indicate a "super" phase of some kind... Then I brought him down and... Nothing happens... nothing happens for far too long... The ground shakes... "Nonononononononononononononononono!" Aaaaaaaaand SUPER single boss now! And his health pool is BIG... Yeah... I haven't beaten him yet. But already I feel this has the makings to be some of the best Souls DLC to date, and I hope it follows through, because the design feels like of Miyazaki had been around to make Crown of the Old Iron King. Similar aesthetic, MUCH better overall vision and design.

I'm not sure if O&S can be topping hardest lists, its a fantastic bossfight don't get me wrong but in terms of difficulty there are far harder bosses in DS1.

I'd reccomend everyone to discard the caestus as just a parry tool and engage in the way of the fist like I did a few days ago, it's super fun. Coincidentally JellyElite uploaded a video about them too. [video=youtube;USHrGIYx3ow]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USHrGIYx3ow[/video] [editline]13th May 2017[/editline] Talking about bosses, there's few ones in the games that I haven't really enjoyed, mostly the ones that are generally agreed to be bullshit (cool ranch smelter for example, but that's because of his boss run).

[QUOTE=Wulfram;52223133]I remember being so disappointed by the Gaping Dragon because its design is so imposing and its intro is so cool, but then I beat it first try because it suffers from the "If you stick close to its dick, it cant hurt you" weakness so many large bosses have.[/QUOTE] gaping dragon is easily the most boring fight in DS1. it barely qualifies as a boss. as soon as you see it do the dumb charge move you know how you're supposed to beat it, the rest is just kinda busywork chasing it around. like i get that it's kind of a startup boss but even asylum demon and taurus demon had more going on

[QUOTE=-Iker-;52223174]I'd reccomend everyone to discard the caestus as just a parry tool and engage in the way of the fist like I did a few days ago, it's super fun. Coincidentally JellyElite uploaded a video about them too. [video=youtube;USHrGIYx3ow]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USHrGIYx3ow[/video] [editline]13th May 2017[/editline] Talking about bosses, there's few ones in the games that I haven't really enjoyed, mostly the ones that are generally agreed to be bullshit (cool ranch smelter for example, but that's because of his boss run).[/QUOTE] It'd be better if he didn't use the shield, sort of ruins the fashion, the other good thing about caestus etc is being able to switch to parry on the fly

[QUOTE=RainbowStalin;52223169]I'm not sure if O&S can be topping hardest lists, its a fantastic bossfight don't get me wrong but in terms of difficulty there are far harder bosses in DS1.[/QUOTE] The list I wrote took into account my personal experience the first time I had to fight each boss, not how well I fared on later runs. Ornstein and Smough and Martyr Logarius will always top such lists for me because they are the only bosses who stopped me in my tracks for a lot of time: as in, I had to retry them over and over again across multiple sessions to finally defeat them. [QUOTE=Mentlegen]Gaping Dragon is one of the best boss designs in the series. It's a shame that the fight itself is pretty middle of the pack. I'll always remember it fondly as the first real hurdle of the game.[/QUOTE] I like the sound design of the Gaping Dragon encounter so damn much

Is it bad that i really want some wacky Soulsborne spinoffs? Like a 4-player Brawler with well-known series characters or like a Soul Calibur (name pun not intended) style fighter, cause that combat style and character creator would work fantastically for Soulsborne fashion. Hell, i'd totally do a 2D Souls too. "But DeVotchKa," you cry out, "Salt and Sanctuary exists," to which i reply "yeah but shut up though." I dunno, i feel like now that the series proper is over, it's the perfect time for some spinoffs. Chosen Undead/Bearer of the Curse/Good Hunter/Ashen One confirmed for Smash.

this is my list on the big boys of the soulsborne universe [B]most difficult:[/B] 1. orphan of kos 2. pontiff sulyvahn 3. defiled watchdog 4. gehrman the first hunter 5. nameless king 6. midir 7. royal rat authority 8. slave knight gael 9. elana the squalid queen 10. ebrietas [B]favourite:[/B] 1. gehrman the first hunter 2. ludwig 3. slave knight gael 4. ariandel and friede 5. abyss watchers 6. orphan of kos 8. lady maria 9. soul of cinder 10. midir gehrman was just a masterpiece in terms of character, story, stage, gameplay, and music. just 10/10.

I can't be the only one expecting another game in the same vein being announced this E3, right? Possibly by the B-team that did Dark Souls 2?

[QUOTE=Jetamo;52223489]I can't be the only one expecting another game in the same vein being announced this E3, right? Possibly by the B-team that did Dark Souls 2?[/QUOTE] Well, FromSoft might announce that other dark fantasy game they were reportedly making (Among another 2). But I'm not expecting anything from them this year tbh.

[QUOTE=Jetamo;52223489]I can't be the only one expecting another game in the same vein being announced this E3, right? Possibly by the B-team that did Dark Souls 2?[/QUOTE] Most of the "B Team" sort of fused with Miyazaki's team as we've seen with Bloodborne and DS3. It could be entirely a new team but i don't know what to expect in this E3. There are Bloodborne 2 rumors but still feels weird.

[QUOTE=-Iker-;52223174]I'd reccomend everyone to discard the caestus as just a parry tool and engage in the way of the fist like I did a few days ago, it's super fun. Coincidentally JellyElite uploaded a video about them too. [video=youtube;USHrGIYx3ow]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USHrGIYx3ow[/video] [editline]13th May 2017[/editline] Talking about bosses, there's few ones in the games that I haven't really enjoyed, mostly the ones that are generally agreed to be bullshit (cool ranch smelter for example, but that's because of his boss run).[/QUOTE] It's really surprising how not many people do this. Caestus is extremely strong when properly spec'd and the weapon art makes it invaluable. I found myself using it as a backup weapon more often than straight swords now.

Hardest - Blue Smelter Demon (Fuck this guy in particular) Fume Knight Sinh the Slumbering Dragon Elana the Squalid Queen Dancer of the Boreal Valley The Gank Squadron of Shulva Lud and Zallen Aava the King's Pet Burnt Ivory King Pontiff Sulyvahn Champion Gundyr Oceiros the Consumed King -Favorite - Ancient Dragon Guardian Dragon Gaping Dragon Seath the Scaleless Ancient Wyvern Sinh the Slumbering Dragon Black Dragon Kalameet Darkeater Midir Dragonrider Twin Dragonriders Old Dragonslayer Dragonslayer Ornstein Dragon

I'm not sure what is my most favorite boss nor that i can make a full list of my favorite ones, but beating Gundyr on SL1 without parrying simply made him one of my favorite, even if i did it with on the 2nd try. Alonne and Fume Knight can be in that list too, Vendrick for music alone, Kalameet, despite how much i've hated him when i was doing SL1. What of RRA, he is actually a joke if you use Lingering Flame, dograts wont attack you until you go further, so you can just set mines safely, he is basically Capra Demon of DaS2, but poise wont save you this time as dograts poison you to death.

Ornstein and Smough gave me the most trouble of any boss fight in the entire series

Woop, I beat Ringed City and DS3 by extension! I think after getting over some initial hurdles in the DLC it gets pretty fun later. I guess one question I have to ask is lore-wise: [sp]I'm confused where the Kiln of the First Flame fits in. Is it in the future? Since it seems that Dreg Heap and Ringed City are also in the future, where Ringed City is talked about as pretty much the last hope for Hollows in the desolate future. So why does lighting the First Flame in the future even matter?[/sp] And also [sp]If humans were apparently also the first vanguard that fought the Archdragons, that would later become the Ringed Knights, then does that mean they were Hollows to begin with and the Darksign was around since the first lighting of the Flame?[/sp]

[sp]Only the Hollows want to see the First Flame "extinguished"; most other people want to see it relit for various reasons. Dedication to the gods, fear of the unknown, tradition, duty etc. As for the First Kiln, I imagine it might simply be in another time pocket. Basically still the present, but where it just looks different. The Dreg Heap and Ringed City, however, appear to be in the future. Reason I say that is because of how Princess Fillanore appear to have been dead for a considerable amount of time, and only her undisturbed corpse was able to keep up the apparent illusion of what the world looks like after innumerable linkings of the First Flame. And no. The Ringed Knights were simply humans, and Gwyn has always looked upon humanity as little more than a tool to be used at best, and a pestilence at worst. Gwyn betrayed them after the war with the dragons, and they then turned hollow over time, just like any other human branded with the Darksign when it did finally appear.[/sp]

Is there a comprehensive guide to all of the +2 and +3 ring locations? I've beaten the Ringed City on NG+ and just plan on continuing from the Grand Archives but I don't feel like making 100 back tracks to 100% the game. That's my only gripe with platinum-ing this game, you need to v2 versions of the rings to complete the collection rather than just the originals.

So, for those who don't know, DkS3 is having a 50% off deal for the weekend, ending on the 15th, meaning you can pick it up for around 30 us dollars or the regional equivalent on steam. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

Kinda came up with an interesting technique while messing around with katanas, dual wielding Frayed Blade with another katana with 'hold' WA let you mix up between the Frayed Blade WA [i]and[/i] parry without your opponent knowing since both of the WA uses the sheath, managed to pull some sweet moves with it The only real downside is confusing myself as well because I don't usually look at the quickswap inventory to know what I'm holding :v: [quote][vid]https://my.mixtape.moe/sdfawj.webm[/vid][/quote] [i]'While you studied the bible, I studied the blade'[/i]

Is there any way to cancel a queued roll? What I find happening often is that i'll poorly dodge an attack, get staggered, but still roll anyway, which puts me in the position to get hit again.

Here's some old footage from my PS4 escapades from last summer. Sorry for the long-winded video (5 min!), the PS4's editing software is garbage, and I didn't have access to my PC due to my house burning down. [media]https://youtu.be/VJqVT1A_I5Y[/media]

So drive-by post unrelated to the discussion, I finally bothered to hang up this poster. [t]http://i.cubeupload.com/u3rXTg.jpg[/t]

[QUOTE=Super Muffin;52224679]So drive-by post unrelated to the discussion, I finally bothered to hang up this poster. [t]http://i.cubeupload.com/u3rXTg.jpg[/t][/QUOTE] Looks very good, what's the best place to get poster frames like that